The European Union has unveiled plans to ban children under 13 from using social media across all 27 member states, alongside new restrictions on account access, addictive design features and AI chatbot use for teenagers, as part of a sweeping new child protection initiative.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen outlined the proposal during her annual State of the Union address in Strasbourg on September 16, describing a tiered, age-based approach built around what she called each age’s own sensitivities. Under the plan, children under 13 would be barred from social media entirely, while those between 13 and 15 would only be permitted limited, supervised mini accounts set up and monitored by a parent or guardian, complete with restricted features and time limits. Full personal accounts would not be available until the age of 15.
The proposal, formalised through a new piece of legislation known as the Kids Act to be published by the European Commission, would also require social media platforms, some gaming services and AI chatbots to introduce stronger safeguards against addictive design, including banning features such as infinite scrolling for younger users. Crucially, the plan shifts the burden of proof onto platforms themselves, requiring them to demonstrate that their services are safe for minors, rather than leaving enforcement to existing self-declared age limits that regulators say have long gone poorly enforced. Companies found in breach of the rules could face fines of up to 6% of their annual global turnover.
Speaking at the address, von der Leyen said Europe held the power to set its own rules rather than leaving that authority to large technology companies, adding that the goal was not to keep children away from social media altogether but to control how and when social media is allowed to reach them. She specifically cited concerns around addictive design, exposure to extreme content and the misuse of children’s photographs to generate sexualised AI imagery as key drivers behind the proposal.
The EU’s move follows a broader global shift toward tighter restrictions on children’s social media access. Australia became the first country to ban social media for under-16s in 2024, a step later followed by Indonesia, while several EU member states, including France, Spain and Denmark, have already pursued their own national age restrictions, with Austria also working on similar legislation. France’s own ban on social media for under-15s was struck down by its Constitutional Court after being passed earlier this year, underlining the legal hurdles such measures can face.
As proposed legislation, the Kids Act would still need approval from individual EU member states and is expected to take considerable time to come into force, though legal experts have suggested it could eventually stand alongside existing frameworks such as the Digital Services Act and the EU’s AI Act as a major new pillar of the bloc’s digital regulation.
